While walking along the streets of Ankara, I hope you had an exceptionally nicer feeling this semester, just by knowing whose name was given to that street. This last issue’s street is one of the biggest in the city, and is located in the GOP district.
Köroğlu ( approx. 16th century)
A folk poet and resistance hero, whose place of birth and death remain unknown today, Köroğlu was a role model for his contemporaries. His adventures have been recounted for centuries.
Köroğlu was one of the first to propogate the ideal of unconditional help for the poor and downtrodden. According to tradition, Köroğlu offered resistance against authoritative cruelty, and spoke out against government control and harassment. In the literal and figurative sense, his name can mean two things: Köroğlu as a name (literal) and Köroğlu as 'the son of the blind' (Kör = blind, oğlu = son), indicating that he always made a stand against injustice by choosing the side of the poor and innocent. His heroic poems and love lyrics were an inspiration for many contemporary artists.

Hande Kaya (IR/III)